iPad mini iPad mini 1 Vs 2

Just dusted off an original iPad mini as thought could use for wife when go on holiday.

Max iOS is 9.3.5 which it has. I reset it and all seems to work but it's (understandably) very slow.

I'm wondering wether to trade in and add a little cash to get a mini 2, if it is substantially faster/better.

I know they are both old, I believe mini 2 runs latest iOS, not important but may come with it on, maybe it slows it down too much?

It's only to be used for a couple of weeks for books and video and basic browsing, but was just wondering if it's worth spending a little on to get an improvement. We have a 12.9 but that's for home and too big to take with us.

The mini 1 seemed to get maybe a little better after an hour or two, maybe doing some housekeeping or something?

Depends on how much you will spend on the upgrade, but the difference between the mini 1 and mini 2 is enormous as it is basically a 2 generation upgrade (chip upgrade from an A5 to A7) and comes with a retina screen (much better for reading since you mentioned that). It is 4.5 year old hardware at this point so it's no powerhouse, but certainly up to the more basic tasks you mentioned. The iPad mini 2 runs iOS 11 better than the mini 1 runs iOS 9, but if you can get a Mini 2 that is still running iOS 10 you're probably better off.

Just dusted off an original iPad mini as thought could use for wife when go on holiday.

Max iOS is 9.3.5 which it has. I reset it and all seems to work but it's (understandably) very slow.

I'm wondering wether to trade in and add a little cash to get a mini 2, if it is substantially faster/better.

I know they are both old, I believe mini 2 runs latest iOS, not important but may come with it on, maybe it slows it down too much?

It's only to be used for a couple of weeks for books and video and basic browsing, but was just wondering if it's worth spending a little on to get an improvement. We have a 12.9 but that's for home and too big to take with us.

The mini 1 seemed to get maybe a little better after an hour or two, maybe doing some housekeeping or something?

Anyone still user their mini 1? For what? How do you find it?

Thanks

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If it’s just for books, video and basis browsing and that too only for two weeks, how about a kindle fire instead? I still have my 2014 8.9 HD (I think it’s 8.9 whatever the larger one was back then) and it’s a champ. Pretty sure they’ve only gotten better in 4 years. I believe they’re down to 79 bucks or something. Absolute bargain for what you need it to do.

--- Post Merged, May 25, 2018 ---

Just checked. The new 8” version is 79. The larger 10” is 149. They’re light and durable and can take serious abuse when traveling. I just chuck mine in a bag with no case.

I have an iPad Mini 2, and upgrading it to iOS 9 made it unusable. It behaves as if it is out of RAM and is page swapping everything.

iOS 10 made is somewhat usable, but no where near as fast as iOS 8. The iPad Mini 2's battery life is horrible, ever since iOS 9, and has not gotten better under iOS 10.

I haven't upgraded to iOS 11 due to not knowing what it might do to the performance.

If there was a way I could downgrade the OS to iOS 8, I would.

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FWIW, I had an iPad Air (which I sold an replaced with an iPad Pro 10.5" thanks to a Staples price match w/Micro Center) and still have my iPad mini 2. Both were on iOS 11. Mini 2 is now on iOS 11.3.1.

They're kinda slow but not unusable, to me.

I test iOS software for a living, and I have a ton of different devices. I intentionally do a fair amount of testing on iPad mini 2 w/iOS 11.2+ since it's the slowest tablet that can still run iOS 11 and it along w/iPad Air have the least RAM of iPads that can run iOS 11. If the app I'm testing gets memory killed by iOS frequently, I will feel it much more/more easily on a low RAM device.

I personally don't like the idea of running on old iOS versions. There are likely many unpatched security vulnerabilities where the fixes will never be backported to old iOS versions.

(I have to keep some devices w/old iOS (e.g. 9.x, 10.x, etc.) versions for testing, but I don't want to be too far behind on my personal devices.)

I also would say don't bother w/mini 2 as it might not support iOS 12. Mini 2 and Air are next in line to be dropped from support for new iOS major versions.

FWIW, I had an iPad Air (which I sold an replaced with an iPad Pro 10.5" thanks to a Staples price match w/Micro Center) and still have my iPad mini 2. Both were on iOS 11. Mini 2 is now on iOS 11.3.1.

They're kinda slow but not unusable, to me.

I test iOS software for a living, and I have a ton of different devices. I intentionally do a fair amount of testing on iPad mini 2 w/iOS 11.2+ since it's the slowest tablet that can still run iOS 11 and it along w/iPad Air have the least RAM of iPads that can run iOS 11. If the app I'm testing gets memory killed by iOS frequently, I will feel it much more/more easily on a low RAM device.

I personally don't like the idea of running on old iOS versions. There are likely many unpatched security vulnerabilities where the fixes will never be backported to old iOS versions.

(I have to keep some devices w/old iOS (e.g. 9.x, 10.x, etc.) versions for testing, but I don't want to be too far behind on my personal devices.)

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Mini 4 is not a consideration purely as won't be used much and the current cost vs benefit.

So in using a mini 2 it seems ok on latest iOS then? The mini 1 runs, and did seem to improve once I logged into my AppleID and after an hour (housekeeping?)

But as the mini 2, as mentioned above, is A5 vs A7 and double RAM surely that makes a difference, but I'm worried that iOS 11 then nullifys this?

So the mini 2 would be no cost upgrade (2nd hand) if trading in two mini 1 and a fire which again only used on holiday.

Mini 4 is not a consideration purely as won't be used much and the current cost vs benefit.

So in using a mini 2 it seems ok on latest iOS then? The mini 1 runs, and did seem to improve once I logged into my AppleID and after an hour (housekeeping?)

But as the mini 2, as mentioned above, is A5 vs A7 and double RAM surely that makes a difference, but I'm worried that iOS 11 then nullifys this?

So the mini 2 would be no cost upgrade (2nd hand) if trading in two mini 1 and a fire which again only used on holiday.

Thanks

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Where would you even find a Mini 2? How much does it cost? BestBuy had the mini 4 new on sale a couple of months back for USD229. If you're absolutely set on the Mini .. I'd look at that deal, or perhaps a used one. Is there a market for a used Mini 1? Not sure who'd buy that at this point.

It's in UK local 2nd hand franchise shops. I agree I wouldn't buy a mini 1 (or mini 2 normally!), But you can trade for money (get less, or voucher get more to buy in shop).

We don't get discounts like US unfortunately, as I say this is a once a year occurance really for using it, and the mini 1 are now doing nothing so thought may as well get a £70 voucher for them while can.

It's in UK local 2nd hand franchise shops. I agree I wouldn't buy a mini 1 (or mini 2 normally!), But you can trade for money (get less, or voucher get more to buy in shop).

We don't get discounts like US unfortunately, as I say this is a once a year occurance really for using it, and the mini 1 are now doing nothing so thought may as well get a £70 voucher for them while can.

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Got it. Go for it then. Sounds like it'd be an even trade, nothing to lose. Mini 2 will certainly be better than the Mini 1, that's for sure.

My wife still uses a Mini 2 to run her daycare business. She tracks expenses, tracks attendance and meals for licensing, ordering groceries, email, and uses it to play music for the kids. She sometimes uses it before bed to watch TV or play a game. It hasn’t slowed down much for her moderate use. She has a ClamCase Keyboard and it works well for her because she can throw it in a purse. If you find one cheap go for it, but it might not get iOS updates by the time iOS 13 comes out next year.

My wife still uses a Mini 2 to run her daycare business. She tracks expenses, tracks attendance and meals for licensing, ordering groceries, email, and uses it to play music for the kids. She sometimes uses it before bed to watch TV or play a game. It hasn’t slowed down much for her moderate use. She has a ClamCase Keyboard and it works well for her because she can throw it in a purse. If you find one cheap go for it, but it might not get iOS updates by the time iOS 13 comes out next year.

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Thanks. What iOS version are you using it on please? Not bothered about updates as say sparely used, and the mini 1's are doing nothing and very very old.

It sounds like you want and need to upgrade and I completely agree it is best to just get rid of the 2 Mini 1’s. Not sure that a Mini 2 would be too much of an upgrade with recent iOS updates though. Having just sold a Mini 2 and traded in an Air to upgrade to the 2018 iPad because both had gotten so slow that I got rid of them while they still had some value.

It sounds like you want and need to upgrade and I completely agree it is best to just get rid of the 2 Mini 1’s. Not sure that a Mini 2 would be too much of an upgrade with recent iOS updates though. Having just sold a Mini 2 and traded in an Air to upgrade to the 2018 iPad because both had gotten so slow that I got rid of them while they still had some value.

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Agree totally. It's just for the travel and not caring too much about it getting knocked/bashed. We have a 12.9" one at home.

Still need to at least trade in these 2 mini 1 either way think for the above value at least

It's really bad in my experience. I've never seen iOS lag and respond so badly. Same applies to the iPhone 5s running the latest version of iOS. The one thing they have in common is the same SoC (A7).

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Hmmm, I don't have a mini 2 specifically anymore but I do have an iPhone 5s which I kept around mostly to use as an iPod to control my Sonos speakers. The 5s seems to run fine on the latest iOS (yes it occasionally has momentary lag but definitely not enough to render it unusable, it still feels fairly responsive most of the time). That said it was set up with a clean install and has pretty minimal apps on it so not much for background activity so that probably helps.

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